Sunday, March 21, 2010

Hard Case Crime Update from Charles Ardai

Friends,

Donald Westlake's final novel, MEMORY, is finally here.

I've seen and held a copy; I've seen it available for delivery on Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com (and the easier-to-type bn.com); and I've seen it on the shelves of one bookstore near me. Chances are it's at one near you, too.

You know where else I've seen it? In USA Today last week (where they unfortunately rendered the title as "Memoir," but were very kind to give it the write-up they did). And I'm told that Time magazine will be running a piece about it in their next issue. Time magazine! And to think that when Don originally wrote the book in the early 1960s his agent told him he wouldn't be able to sell it.

The book tells the story of a man who's been the victim of a brutal assault and has to deal with the consequences: a peculiar form of brain damage that prevents him from forming or holding onto memories. When he gets out of the hospital he goes looking for his old life -- but how can you find something when you can't even remember what it was? And what if you're hundreds of miles from home, with no money and no resources, and only the cards in your wallet to remind you where you need to go...

For a taste of the book, you can read the sample chapter on our Web site, www.HardCaseCrime.com. But you're going to want more than a taste of this one. It's our first new book in four months, it's one of the longest we've ever published, and it's really, really good. This is not one you'll want to miss.

And we've got another new book that you might enjoy checking out as well: the first new Gabriel Hunt adventure novel since last November's HUNT AT WORLD'S END. This one's called HUNT BEYOND THE FROZEN FIRE and it's co-authored by Christa Faust, Edgar Award-nominated author of MONEY SHOT. In it, Gabriel and his team of hardy adventurers travel to Antarctica in search of a scientist who vanished after a final radio transmission in which he claimed to have found something impossible. What did he find...? You wouldn't believe me if I told you. The book's in stores now -- why not pick up a copy and find out for yourself?

We've got plenty more good things coming, too -- the next Hard Case Crime book will be NOBODY'S ANGEL, a gorgeous, heartbreaking noir novel written by a Chicago cab driver named Jack Clark; and the next Gabriel Hunt book, HUNT AMONG THE KILLERS OF MEN, is co-written by David J. Schow (screenwriter of "The Crow" and other Hollywood pictures) and takes Gabriel to the dark underworld of Shanghai. But those are both a couple of months away (June and July, respectively). In the meantime, I very much hope you'll give Don's book a read, and Christa's, and let me know what you thought of them. They're as different as can be from one another, but I think they'd make a hell of a one-two punch.

Best,Charles---------Charles ArdaiEditor

P.S. Congratulations to the winners of our drawing for free advance copies of MEMORY: Naomi in Ohio; Charlene in Los Angeles; Jared in Kansas City, MO; David in Iowa; Audrey in Bangor, Maine; Jack in upstate New York; Tom in Tennessee; Stan in Maryland; Fran in Seattle; Kristin just 50 miles away in another part of Washington; Dannie in California; and Mike in Massachusetts.